Thursday, April 16, 2015 - Islamabad—West Indian legend Michael Holding has rued the decline of the art in world cricket due to an overkill of the game.
“Talking to Press Trust of India Wednesday at the sidelines of the Laureus World Sports Awards, Micheal Holding said “In World Cup any bowler will have disappeared, especially in the last 10 overs with smaller boundaries and bigger bats and fielding restrictions. What is killing fast bowlers is the amount of cricket that is being played. It is difficult to maintain your fitness, speed and skill,” he said.
Holding said he was bored and disappointed with the World Cup.
“There was too many one-sided games in World Cup. Too many sides batted first and batted out the opposition.
Teams batting second were not competitive.I found that aspect of the game boring. Many a times I slept over during the second innings,” he said.
“I would love to see a shorter World Cup, which doesn’t necessarily mean lesser teams, and more competitive cricket with proper size bats.”
Talking about the format of next World Cup, he said: “If ICC has 10 teams then 10 months ahead of the tournament they should have top six teams qualify for the main draw, while the rest four should face a play-off. I don’t want the Test playing nations qualifying automatically.”
“I am ready to coach the bowlers and help out any cricketer across the globe if I can. So I may consider any offer of coaching in future but right now I can’t take up that because of my TV commitments.”—APP
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